Fear's Function

Fear does have a certain function, mind you. It's like pain in that way - it can be helpful. Thank God for the gift of pain. When you feel it, you know to get away from whatever is causing it. In the same way when you fear, you know what to avoid. Fear can keep you from jumping off a building onto the street below, for example.

Fear not only lets you know to stay away from certain things. It lets you know what you need. If you are fearful, you don't have security. In the best case scenario, then, you would work to find just that. Donald Miller says your "insecurity rises the instant you realize you are alone." What we are looking for is relationship. When we are fearful, then, we have strayed from our most important, life-giving relationships.

The Orchids

This is a song by one of my favorite bands, Califone. It's called "The Orchids" and it's actually a cover of a Psychic TV song from the 80s. It's quite a departure from the original. Anyway, it usually has me feeling all "nostalgic." That's the only way I know how to describe it. Music, to me, is all about feel. The words and intent of the song are second, but to me, it's all about getting lost in a sea of sound.

Pushing Out Fear

I was thinking: fear is the opposite of a lot of good things. It is the opposite of faith, hope, peace and love. Let me explain. If you don't have faith that God is going to take care of you, you're afraid of what will happen. If you don't have hope that things will get better, you'll walk around pretty apprehensive. If you don't have a lot of peace in your soul, you probably are anxious about some stuff. If you don't have love, you have fear because it is only perfect loves that drives out fear.

But what am I filled up with most often? Not faith, hope, peace or love. Most often it's fear. It drives me and defines me. It's like our default position as human beings. There's a lot of it going around. Good thing God is all about faith, hope, peace and love. Something's gotta push that fear out.

Connection

I've been thinking about how profound it is that we need each other. Now, some people will tell you that we don't really need each other - that relationships are an icing-on-the-cake kind of deal. "They're nice and we definitely have fuller lives if we have them, but they're not absolutely necessary for survival." Well, tell me how an infant would survive if it had no one to feed it when it cried.

And it's not just that we need each other to provide for our physical needs. I'm thinking that if you were left alone, you'd go crazy. We need other minds to "organize" our own. When an infant is not even a year old, it has done enough needing of others that it has begun to form an idea of how people respond to it - whether they are available and caring or not. That is what builds our view of ourselves and the world. How cool is that, that we are built that way - to seek each other out and connect? To see if there is someone out there to whom we matter?

You and Me

It's important in the midst of conflict or struggle to look at ourselves and figure out if there is anything in us that might have caused the conflict/rift/upheaval. It's equally as important to remember that just as there is always something sinful in my body and being, there is something sinful in the other's body and being that is causing the conflict/rift/upheaval.

That means that it's wise to take some responsibility, but not total responsibility in any given situation. There's a sign in the substance abuse treatment center that I used to work in that reads this way: "Do not feel totally, personally, irrevocably responsible for everything. That's my job. - God". There's some perspective.

Bon Iver

This was easily the best thing that came out last year: Bon Iver's album For Emma, Forever Ago. And since now I have started posting the most excellent tracks I have ever heard, I must post one track from it here (it's called "RE:Stacks"). The whole record is surely worth a listen or a hundred. It has a flow, but the tracks also coalesce and become distinct, enough for the tracks to each stand on their own. Some words to describe Justin Vernon's music and words: gentle, tuneful, soulful. This music surely is happening in a time and a place. It has a feel and an atmosphere.

You As A Whole

We're much more integrated beings than we think. We, however, tend to divide ourselves up into sections: mind/body/feeling/spirit. Like we say that we're doing fine physically, but we're really stressed about something. The truth is that when you're messed up in your head, your body takes the hit, too. You know how you get sick when you've been real stressed out?

These different aspects of ourselves are just smaller systems in a larger, meta-system. Each interacts with the other. Evidence: I am much more susceptible to negative thoughts about myself and even about God when I am tired, hungry, anxious, stressed. I know the physical doesn't matter as much (a lot of it might not be around forever), but in Jesus, there is the reconciliation of God and man. God put on flesh. Jesus provided for physical needs and spiritual ones. I'm guessing he cares about our emotional selves and our intellect as well.

Did it.

Alright sweet. I'm going to post songs you can stream and listen to while you read and contemplate. I promise I'll never post stuff that's not great and I don't absolutely love. imeem.com actually has stuff I listen to (much indie), so I choose their widget. [Update: Actually, after this post, I switched to seeqpod because I like their player (it's less bulky and ad-focused]

This is a good one to start with. The track is "Blood" by The Middle East. It's super hard to find anything on them, but their album The Recordings of The Middle East is well worth just about any amount of work.

The Middle East - Blood